University of Virginia Library

Writer Tours University Branch

building that N.A.S.A. maintains
for us over on the station."

Leaving Mr. White, we followed
Mr. Pogue through the administration
building to his office. Mr.
Pogue is a surprisingly versatile and
vigorous man. He holds degrees in
engineering, law, and business administration
(the latter two from
the university). His various careers
have included service in the Navy,
and positions in business, law, education,
and two or three other
fields. As we listened to his discussion
of the college, we could detect
signs of his many interests. We
asked him to tell us about his job as
Branch Director. "There are really
two operations here," he began.
"One is the branch college, which
now has about 215 regular day
students. This is a two-year college,
offering freshman and sophomore
courses, as well as a number of
specialized courses that most junior
colleges lack. The other operation is
the extension center, which enrolls
another 150 or so students in evening
and part-time work. The extension
center offers graduate and
undergraduate courses, depending
on demand, and serves as district
office to coordinate all University
courses in the area. Some of its
courses are taught here, and some
elsewhere.

Small Operation

"The college began as a very
small operation. Population density
on the Shore is relatively low — the
two Virginia counties together have
fewer than 50,000 people. For
several years, enrollment was very
low, sometimes less than 100. But
the past few years have seen fluctuating
increases in enrollment and in
our curriculum offerings. Right
now we are about double what we
were last year, with much of the
growth from outside Virginia."

Negro Enrollment

What has the college done to
attract more students? "Several
things. We are offering increasingly
broad undergraduate and graduate
programs for N.A.S.A.'s personnel,
so more of them are enrolling. We
have worked with high school
guidance officers in Virginia and
Maryland all along, but we are now
working with larger numbers than
before. We offer several good programs
for qualified students, so
guidance officers seem to like working
with us. One effort that has
produced good results has been
cooperation with Negro educators
and civic leaders. Our total Negro
enrollment is probably about 20,
with several high school teachers in
that number. Last year we encouraged
local Negro clergymen to refer
interested young people to us, and
with their help we enrolled 3 Negro
students who would not have gone
to college without this kind of
encouragement. So far, the total
number of students like this is
small, but it's the kind of effort
that you cannot judge accurately
just from numbers." Is it hard to
find qualified Negro students? "In a
way, yes, because there is a well
established, predominantly Negro
college about 25 miles from us in
Maryland. But there are more than
enough potential students — black
and white — within 100 miles of
here to fill our facilities."

Academic Offerings

We asked Mr. Pogue to tell us
more about the college's academic
offerings. "First, there is a 2-year
liberal arts program offering core
courses and a certificate of accomplishment
at the end. Second, there
is a fully developed technology
program which combines academic
work here with practical training in
N.A.S.A.'s research facilities and
leads to technological careers with
N.A.S.A. This is a 2-year engineering-technology
program offering a
certificate of accomplishment.
Third, here is a transfer program for
engineering students. Fourth, there
is a business program leading to a
Certificate in Business and Industrial
Management on Business and
Commerce. Fifth, there is a data
processing program offering a certificate.
Sixth, there is the library
science program for school librarians.
And finally there are graduate
programs offering engineering
courses at N.A.S.A. and education
courses here and elsewhere.

Wide Range

"For a college as small and as
young as this one is, these offerings
are very broad. We have 20 faculty
members. Many of them are qualified
in more than one field, so we
get a wide range of services from
them. We have tried very hard to
locate and attract well trained part-time
teachers, especially in technological
and other specialized fields.
State Senator Fears, for example, is
a practicing attorney as well as a
successful business man. He will
teach commercial law for us next
year, giving us the benefit of his
specialized education and also his
broad experience. A local accountant
teaches our accounting course.
A N.A.S.A. engineer teaches one
math course. And a Navy Department
psychologist comes up from
Norfolk to teach psychology. In
addition to these people, of course,
we have our resident faculty, which
is comparable to what you would
find at any good two-year school."

What about library facilities?
"We have two libraries. The one on
the campus is new and houses
primarily non-technical materials.
The other one, on the N.A.S.A.
station, has been here all along and
houses primarily scientific
materials. The collection contains
about 20,000 volumes, which is not
a bad number for so small a college,
and it is growing rapidly, especially
in core areas. In addition, we have
teletype connections with every
major Virginia library, so that we
can secure virtually any needed
book within just a few days. The
librarian is Donald Haynes, who
worked for several years in the
Alderman Library and came here
after finishing graduate school at
U.N.C. He has a good degree, and
he does an uncommonly good job.
His library science courses, which
are designed for public school
librarians enrolled 48 persons at the
beginning and will certify 16 or 18
when the sequence ends.

Area Needs

"The library science program,
incidentally, is a good example of
just how desperately this area needs
what the college offers. 48 enrollees
would be a good number for any
beginning course in library science
anywhere. Another example is the
data processing program. About 50
students enrolled in the first course,
and we get more inquiries all the
time. Our courses in such areas as
speech, psychology, and business
are always well subscribed, and the
demands for core courses, such as
English, history, and mathematics,
is even higher."

We asked Mr. Pogue what effects
the college has had on the Eastern
Shore community. "The educational
effect is, I think, very obvious.
Suddenly, higher education is
a vital force in a community that
has previously lacked needed facilities.
This means that high school
graduates can think in practical
terms about a college right in their
own back yards. At least 3 of our
alumni have come back to the
Shore to teach in public schools
after having finished college elsewhere,
and several more will return
this fall. We have helped N.A.S.A
Wallops retain it excellent reputation
by providing a steady supply
of trained technicians, as well as
local graduate facilities for
engineers. In addition to benefits
like these, the community benefits
culturally from contact with our
faculty and students and vice versa.
A group of our people helped organize
the Fowlkes Tavern Players,
an amateur drama company patterned
on the Virginia Players, and
there is a thriving community live
theatre for the first time in anyone's
memory. Others of the faculty
involved in local civic affairs, and
one member even operates a small
boutique which is bringing mod
clothing onto the local scene. The
faculty is essentially young and
vigorous. Its members are filling
gaps that no one even recognized
before they came."

Future

As we prepared to leave, we
asked Mr. Pogue for his impressions
of the college's future. "First, we
can expand at minimal cost to the
people of Virginia. We can house
1000 students right now with no
new construction, and housing is
absolutely necessary for a college to
succeed in such a sparsely populated
area. We even have the beds
on hand and ready for use. Our
present classrooms will handle 2500
students. All we need to grow is a
larger faculty. This makes the cost
of enlarging the college less than
the cost of enlarging any other
college that I know about. Second,
we have the advantage of being a
part of the University of Virginia.
Since we are a two-year transfer
institution, we can offer admission
to a wider range of students than
does the University at Charlottesville,
and at the same time take
advantage of the University's extensive
teaching and research resources.
For a new college, it means
a lot to have its faculty appointed
and controlled by a well known,
respected university. We will want
to continue to exploit this relationship
in the future, because it produces
too many advantages for
both parties for us to abandon it.

Four-year Curriculum

"Finally, we have realized that
we have to plan toward establishing
a 4-year curriculum. This was the
line of development at George
Mason and at Clinch Valley, and it
is necessary here. We have solid
beginnings here — what we need to
do now is expand our offerings,
solidify our curriculum, and offer
the widest possible range of services."